MATCH REPORTS BY SEASON

Blummin' marvellous. End-of-season sunshine, fantastic atmosphere. Given our
ability to pull unlikely results out of the bag, at twelve o'clock some of
us were probably nervous enough that we'd have settled for a draw if
offered. But a win and a clean sheet? That'll do. In fact, it was almost
frustrating that we didn't end up putting the tie out of sight by half time.
With almost the whole squad available, Joe surprisingly ... More...

A nervous, edgy and generally uninspiring performance, of which the best
thing that can be said is that it turned out OK in the end. Another display
(or two) like this won't be good enough to get us to the play-off final, but
then again, we won't play like that in the semis, don'tcha just know it. So
let's have a really good night out and celebrate, because yet again folks
...we're in ... More...

A big crowd, and almost every home supporter will have left the ground
thinking the same thing: "How predictable was that?"
And indeed it was. Decent run, things start to get important, home match
against team from the other end of the table ...of course, what happens
next? A large pair of pants descends on Portman Road. To be fair, we weren't
that bad, and few Forest supporters would have felt cheated if ... More...

Don't let the out-of-character scoreline fool you: this was a very good
match, and probably home performance of the season too. A lot of things came
together, but most importantly, we were professional and committed
throughout. We played some sparkling football at the beginning, but it was
the end which best illustrated the change in the team we've endured for so
long. It was a must-win game for Sunderland, and you'd have expected ... More...

The performances are different, but the scores still end up roughly the
same. I think five of the last eight visitors to the Portman Road Charity
Shop have helped themselves to three or more goals, but at least this one
was one of our better displays, although that made it even more irritating
to have lost. In the first half, the whole was more the sum of the parts:
there were few outstanding ... More...

An unremarkable performance with a nice (but not extraordinary) scoreline,
but a match which will be remembered for a long time thanks to Deano's
opportunism. Who knows, he might go on to great things and there'll be
75,000 Town fans who'll claim to have been there and have seen his
home-debut hat-trick. But we really were there, weren't we kids?
Those of us who want to see all the youngsters given a start ... More...

Three-one defeats are becoming a bit monotonous. But unlike the Wigan game,
we weren't outplayed by a classier side, and unlike the Norwich game, we
weren't robbed. Instead, we just looked a mess, against a strong but
ordinary side. It was a match about commitment and confidence, and for
periods we had it in spades, and for the remainder we were simply hopeless.
I've simply no idea what we can learn from this, ... More...

Which team was this we were watching then? Not any Ipswich side I can
recognise of late. Yes, that's right, a good, old-fashioned, unremarkable
two-nil home win. Wow. Lots to talk about though.
With Kuqi suspended, Joe opted for Counago to partner Dazza but curiously
put no recognised strikers (unless you count Reuser) on the bench. We all
wondered what would happen if one of the front men had to go off
(particularly Counago), ... More...

Opposition as mediocre as this was probably our best hope of getting back on
track after being so demoralisingly outplayed last week, and although we
normally make a hash of beating poor teams, the only predictably distressing
thing about the afternoon was the by-now compulsory goal gifted to the
opponents right on half-time. Otherwise, it was a lot more encouraging all
round.
When the teams came out and we saw three centre-backs in blue, ... More...

That'll be seventeen goals conceded in the last seven home games then (ten
of them in the last three) and no team can possibly win anything with a
defence like that. What was more worrying was how easily Wigan found it to
walk away with the points. They knew exactly how to beat us and just came
and did it. Even worse, when the whole crowd could see what they were doing
and ... More...

Well, after 100+ games (several seasons' worth) in each of the other three
stands over 30 years, for the first time *ever* your humble correspondent
sat in the North Stand. It's all a bit different when you're in the North:
the seats are all cramped, there's no big bar with carpet, and Pablo looks
quite a good player. But the team are still their own worst enemies.
What verdict to give then? We've ... More...

Our enormous goals-for plus goals-against total would suggest that on any
given day this season, the game involving Ipswich would be one of the
highest scoring in the First Division. On a day when half the division
seemed to be scoring fours and sixes, we'd have to go some to keep up that
record. We did.
Where to begin? The football veered from the sublime to the ridiculous, the
conditions veered from the awkward ... More...

What a gut-wrenchingly shocking performance to finish the year on, ranking
with the previous Sunday and the Wimbledon nightmare as Portman Road's low
points for 2003. Mediocre (at best) performances all around, but the whole
was even less than the sum of the parts, so once again the manager has to
shoulder a lot of the blame.
Whilst everyone there would agree it was a tight, scrappy affair in
midfield, I wonder how many ... More...

I remember a Portman Road game a few seasons back where the players just
didn't seem to be trying, and got the reaction they deserved, even down to a
gut-wrenching booing for Matt as he did his post-match lap. This wasn't the
same sort of thing, it was just a really poor performance. Wrong players,
wrong tactics, wrong day for so many of the players to have off-days.
Norwich came with exactly the ... More...

On a day when for many of us, the rugby result meant that there was nothing
Ipswich could do to spoil things, the team went and did us proud regardless.
And in a way there was something quite reminiscent of the way in which the
England XV always seem to adapt their game to the opposition and conditions,
because against hard opposition and in some gloomy drizzle, we proved we
could mix it.
The ... More...